There are many times in life in which your standing affects what you say. For example, if someone who is better than you, at let’s say bowling, really beats you and then tells you that you are actually really good (although you had a lot of gutter balls), you can feel insulted. Or, when a single person hears from a married person or one in a relationship, the words, “don’t worry, you’ll find someone” their words can feel like salt in a wound. When the healthy person tells the sick person, “you’ll get better”, or when the couple with children tells the barren one, “you’ll have kids,” one can feel aggravated because they aren’t in the same situation!
However, one’s standing doesn’t have to have a negative effect. If investors from the show Shark Tank, like Kevin O’ Leary, Mark Cuban, or Lori Greenier, give you business or financial advice, you listen. If someone like Vincent Van Gogh were to give you a pointer on your painting, or if Mark Twain gave you a writing tip, you would again, listen. In these instances, their standing and credentials lend weight to what they say. You listen because of who they are.
This summer, we are going to take a look at the book of Ephesians. In this book, we hear who we are, and we are many things. This letter is written by Paul the Apostle, and his standing carries much weight. As he writes the letter to the Ephesians, he is sitting in jail. Things couldn’t be any worse for him. He is locked up, alone, abandoned, and waiting for his trial. He isn’t writing this book when things are good and grand. Keep that in mind.
On the other hand, Paul has personally experienced what he is writing about. Paul has been a Christian for over 25 years now as he writes this book in 60 A. D. When Paul says who you are, it carries much weight. More than that, he tells us who God says you are in Jesus Christ. And who you are in God’s eyes is much more than anything our siblings, significant other, child, friends, bullies, or ex may say about us. What God says about you is what ultimately matters. This morning, God tells us four things that we are in Jesus Christ through the Apostle Paul.
Paul begins his letter by saying that you are blessed. And again, remember Paul’s circumstances. He is not sitting on a beach or riding high, but is locked up in a cold, dark, and damp prison. He is sitting shackled in prison. He writes these words with chains on his hands and feet. He says, in Jesus Christ, you are blessed!
But that might be a strange thought for us. It can be challenging to see or realize that. Perhaps you are struggling with a sickness, or maybe nothing in life is going according to plan. It could be one thing after another coming your way. But maybe things are fine, and “normal.” Wherever you find yourself, Paul says that in Jesus Christ, you are blessed. Let me explain.
In the 1800s there was a woman named Hetty Green, and she is famous for being the richest woman of that period. She was worth 4.5 billion dollars. She was a great investor, and always wore a black dress that she would change when it would wear out. This earned her the nickname, “The Witch of Wall Street.” But Hetty Green isn’t just famous for being rich, she is famous for being incredible cheap and stingy. Although she was rich, she never washed her hands because that would use soap and water, which cost money. She ate cold oatmeal, and drank cold coffee, because it cost money to heat them. She kept her work in briefcases and suitcases so she wouldn’t have to rent an office that was even in a building that she owned. She once spent all night looking for a lost stamp, and sadly, when her son broke his leg, didn’t take him to the doctor. When she did, it was at the free clinic, and she wasn’t served because she was so rich, and he eventually lost his leg due to a lack of treatment. Point being, she had it all. She had more than enough, but literally, was not willing to spend even a penny!
Paul says that this is not like God at all. God has it all and He gives it all. He says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”. Paul says that you are blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing. This is real! These blessings through the Holy Spirit are not imaginary or illusions. They are in the heavenly places, for you! God doesn’t hold them back or in. He doesn’t say, “I have over 2 billion Christian. I can’t just give these blessings out. You can have some, but not all. I gotta spread them out.” He is not like Hetty Green at all. He gives them out.
But in reality, He lavishes them out. Paul says, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight”. Do you know what the word lavish means? It means to “bestow something in generous or extravagant quantities on”. God lavishes the riches of His grace upon us. He lavishes that redemption, that forgiveness. He isn’t stingy, but lavishes it upon us. You are rich in Jesus Christ. You are blessed in God’s Son.
As Paul continues, he says that you are chosen in Jesus. Before we continue, I want you to think back to your childhood for just a moment. Remember recess and getting picked to play games? It would be exciting to be picked early or first. When that would happen, you would quite naturally feel special, wanted, valued, and liked. There is something about you that got you this honor and privilege. But do you remember not being chosen, or picked last? When that happened, you couldn’t help but feel disheartened, hurt, or embarrassed. No one likes those feelings. I knew what that was like.
Listen to the words of Paul. Paul pens, “He chose us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him” God chose you. He picked you out. He selected you. He set you aside for Himself. He did it before the creation of the world. This was all intentional and part of the plan. It was not your own doing or influenced by you. It is not based on anything in you that you could lose or live up to. You don’t have to justify His decision, earn it, or pay Him back. What’s more is that then in God’s eyes, through Jesus, He sees you as holy and blameless before Him. God’s choosing us, our election, is a wonderful thing, and it carries many blessings.
Our election leads us to praising God for that salvation He has won and given to us. How can we not praise and thank Him for that? This choosing points us to Jesus and His Word. We are pointed to the One Who achieved our salvation and to the mean that He gives it through. This truth comforts us in trials and temptations since our salvation in Jesus is sure and certain. It is finished and final through Jesus’ blood and merit. There is nothing I need to do, I just receive! There is no way I can mess it up or not do it right. He has done…it….all! This blessing then also encourages us for holy living. We want to live in response to this choosing, calling, and salvation. God has chosen us in Jesus Christ. Paul says you are chosen in Jesus.
Paul then moves on to another wonderful truth. He says that you are adopted. Everyone in this room was born into a family (not a profound thought, but true). I am part of a family of . (Personal information; adapt to you and your situation. The following is an example of what I used…This week, I celebrated the anniversary of the start of my family with . In January, it got bigger by one, with the addition of .) But this family, and this type of family, is not the one that Paul is talking about here. He is talking about another family that we were born into, Adam’s family. This is a broken, bad, and bickering family. It is not one that you want to be a part of.
And like in all families, we inherit things from our parents. We are inherited from these parents, Adam and Eve, blindness. We know nothing in spiritual matters or things. We inherited death, both spiritual and physical. We inherited our sinful nature. We inherited a feud that predates us. This is a family feud worse than Medieval fights between monarchs. One worse than the feud between the Capulets and Montagues, the Hatfields and McCoys, and the gangs, the Sharks and the Jets. We continue in our parents’ conflict against God. We are His enemies!
But in Jesus Christ, God has taken us out of that family. Our adoption day was our baptism day, where we were buried and raised with Christ to new life, and to a new family! We are no longer blind, dead, and God’s enemies. We are no longer children of wrath, but are children whom God cares for, whom He loves, and whom He forgives and claims as His own. As part of this family, like all children, we are given an inheritance, eternal life, and have a place in God’s Kingdom because of Jesus.
And He did it all out of love. He wanted to do it, and did it gladly. He paid our adoption price with the blood and life of His Son, Jesus. Rest assured, you are part of this family, through Jesus. Paul says that you are adopted through Jesus Christ.
Paul then finishes our time today by telling us that you are sealed in Jesus Christ. In the ancient world, everyone had their own unique seal. It was like a social security number. It was unique and your own. These seals could be wax ones. For animals, they could be a brand. For soldiers and slaves, it could be a tattoo. In the ancient world, seals showed ownership.
Paul says that God has placed His seal on you! He has placed His name on you! When did that happen? For many of us, it happened long ago. We probably don’t even remember it! God placed His name, His seal on us, in baptism, as a pastor poured water on our heads and said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” From that moment on, we belonged to Him!
When I was younger, I saved two years of Christmas and birthday money so that I could get the new Nintendo video game system. I was going to get the limited edition Mario Kart one, that was a special color that came with extra goodies. I went to Gamestop to reserve it. I paid the down payment and circled the calendar for the day it came out. I treasured that receipt, and knew where it was at all times, for that receipt guaranteed what I had been waiting years for. I even got to the store an hour early, so I wouldn’t have to wait too long to get it. (You can make it a general story, or use one in which you waited or pre-paid for something)
Not only has our God sealed us, He has given us His Holy Spirit in baptism, Who is the down payment for that inheritance that we so long for. The gift of the Holy Spirit says there is more coming! The best is yet to come! He is the guarantee, for He sustains and makes us faithful until the end. God has sealed you, placed His name on you, and given you the Holy Spirit.
In Jesus, you are blessed, chosen, adopted, and sealed. This summer, we will hear what else we are in Him.
